International studio (26.1905)

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w "A HE PRINT DIVISION OF THE
} ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
t BY LEILA MECHLIN
ONE of the most important movements
in the held of art of recent years has been the insti-
tution of print divisions in our public libraries.
Marking, in a measure, a broadening of art's defini-
tion, this movement iays emphasis on the inherent
relation of books and pictures, and it aims by
rational methods to raise the critical standard of the
people. The first written language was almost
purely pictorial; the spark which quickened the
hne arts through the dark ages was pedagogical.
The writer builds his pictures with words; the
painter creates or transcribes others with brush,
pencil or graver; the child still finds delight in a
pictorial alphabet, and the mature man is led
through that alphabet into new worlds. An appre-
ciation of art may be intuitive, but it is more often a
gradual evolution. The average individual does
not directly discriminate between a chromo and a
painting, or between a process print and an etching,
but he can be made to do so by knowledge bred of
familiarity. To see is in time to know, and by
persistently placing before the public the best, only
the best will eventually be demanded. *
The Print Division of the Library of Congress
has along these lines rendered notable service.
Instituted in 1897, by a special act of Congress, it
has, under the able direction of Mr. Alfred Jeffrey
Parsons, developed rapidly and auspiciously. As
the natural outgrowth of the copyright law of 1870,
it came into existence with a heterogeneous collec-
tion of 54,236 prints, many
of which had been stored
in the basement of the Capi-
tol for years, and few of
which were of any intrinsic
value. Now the collection
numbers upward of 180,000
prints (exclusive of the sev-
eral valuable private collec-
tions deposited with the
division for public use and
safe keeping), among which
are many rare examples of
the work of the world's
most famous etchers and
engravers. It was origi-
nally assigned quarters in the
southeast paviliion on the
second floor, but it has
gradually got possession of

the southwest paviliion, the west south-gallery and
the upper main corridor. During the past year it
has shown fifteen exhibitions, and this fall it adds
to its territory and exhibition facilities the south
curtain.
The opening of the south curtain—one of the
most imposing halls in the Library—is, in itself, an
event of much interest, and the completion of the
new cases marks, it is thought, a new chapter in
methods of preserving and exhibiting prints. De-
signed and built purposely for the Library of Con-
gress, they are in some respects unique. Rectangu-
lar in form, they are two stories in height, and, while
providing sliding shelves and abundant space
within for the permanent preservation of prints
and folios, they afford, externally, panels decora-
tively designed and mechanically well contrived for
exhibition purposes.
A great impetus was given to the Division of
Prints, almost at the time of its inception, by the
gift of the collection got together by the late
Gardiner Greene Hubbard, president and founder
of the National Geographical Society, which in
1898 was most generously presented by Mrs.
Hubbard to the nation. It consists of 2,620 items,
and while specially rich in the works of Rembrandt,
Dtirer, Haig, Morghen, Hollar, Haden and
Whistler, includes examples of almost every noted
school of etchers and engravers. Among its por-
traits are numerous and in some instances exceed-
ingly rare likenesses of Frederick the Great and
Napoleon. An elaborate catalogue of this collection
was issued by the Division last spring, which con-
tains a full list of exhibits under both artist and


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